On April 12, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National (OPEN) Government Act, sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX). However, the bill is now stuck after an unidentified senator placed an anonymous hold on the legislation that would improve the government's implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Increasing pressure is being brought to bear on the Senate to uncover the hold and move forward with the bill.

The hold prevents the bill from moving forward in the Senate under unanimous consent procedures, even though the House passed similar legislation, the Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007, on a strong bipartisan vote of 308-117 on March 14. Placing a hold on legislation is part of the Senate's unwritten code, in which a senator indicates that he or she objects to the legislation and wants it considered under regular procedures. Under regular procedures, which would require floor time for debate, amendments would be in order, and it would be possible for the bill to be filibustered. Such holds are often followed by the concerned senator working with the bill's sponsors to make the fixes that allow non-controversial bills to move forward. On the other hand, if the senator placing a hold chooses to remain anonymous, there is little that the sponsors of a bill can do, especially since it is very hard to use floor time in the Senate for non-controversial bills. In essence, an anonymous hold can become the death knell for non-controversial legislation.

This particular hold has attracted the attention of numerous public interest groups. More than 100 groups signed on to a letter asking Senate leaders to pass the OPEN Government Act as soon as possible. The groups, including Public Citizen, the National Treasury Employees Union and OMB Watch, claim, "FOIA's promise of ensuring an open and accountable government has been seriously undermined by the excessive processing delays that FOIA requesters face across the government." The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

The Society of Professional Journalists has established a webpage to encourage people to help identify the anonymous senator responsible for the hold. Those interested in participating are encouraged to contact their senators and inquire if they are responsible for the hold. As Senate offices go on record as not being the source of the hold, the SPJ will eliminate them as suspects. A similar effort by bloggers a few months ago was very effective in helping get the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act passed after a hold was placed on the bill.

UPDATE (05/31/07): Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) announced May 31 that he is the senator blocking the OPEN Government Act.